Prince William might want to keep his hands clean when it comes to the royal titles of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet — and according to a royal expert, there’s a clever way to do just that.
With fresh chatter around whether Harry and Meghan’s children should hold on to their HRH titles, one royal commentator has suggested William should take notes from a different royal household that’s already navigated a similar dilemma — the Danish monarchy.
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The debate over Archie and Lilibet’s titles has sparked renewed interest after reports claimed the Sussex children are using their prince and princess designations on official documents like passports. Now, Sharon Hunt, writing for Daily Mail Australia, reckons the British Royal Family should look at how Denmark handled its own title shake-up.
Back in 2022, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe made headlines when she stripped four of her eight grandchildren of their royal titles. Starting January 2023, the children of her younger son, Prince Joachim — Count Nikolai, Count Felix, Count Henrik, and Countess Athena — were no longer styled as Prince or Princess or as His or Her Highness. They remained in the line of succession, but without the royal titles.
At the time, it caused a bit of a stir, especially within Joachim’s family. But things seem to have settled since. Joachim later moved to the US for work, and despite the drama, he attended his brother King Frederik’s ascension ceremony last year and recently expressed a desire to return home.
Hunt believes that kind of approach could offer the “perfect blueprint” for William and the British monarchy. She argues that if King Charles were to make the call now, before handing over the crown to William, it could shield the Prince of Wales from future fallout while still taking decisive action.
“Adopting the Danish royal family’s blueprint for title removal could potentially not only keep William’s hands clean, but it may even hold the door ajar (even if by just an inch!) for a future reconciliation between the warring brothers,” she wrote. “But it requires the agreement and participation of King Charles.”
She added that it’s up to Charles to “make a tough call” and provide “surety and stability for the next generation.” According to Hunt, the King could follow Queen Margrethe’s lead and “cut the HRH cord from Prince Harry’s children, once and for all,” making it clear that Archie and Lilibet’s futures lie outside the Royal Family.
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Of course, such a move wouldn’t come without backlash. Hunt acknowledged that Harry and Meghan would almost certainly be “upset” by the decision, but she suggested the long-term benefits might outweigh the short-term drama.
“While the situations are certainly not identical,” she explained, “it would bear consideration for William to advocate that his father follow Margrethe’s example by being the one to make the decision on Archie and Lilibet’s royal titles while still the reigning monarch.”
She finished by saying the odds of a Harry-William reconciliation could be much stronger if this difficult “job” doesn’t end up falling on the shoulders of the future king.